


Couldn't Dream This Up

by crimsontheory



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Hand Jobs, Laughter During Sex, Light Angst, M/M, Online Relationship, Phone Calls & Telephones, Phone Sex, Texting, i can't believe clifford is an actual character tag omg, more like texting relationship but that isn't a tag, not really - Freeform, so light that if you blink you'll miss it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 09:02:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19826866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsontheory/pseuds/crimsontheory
Summary: “Marcel!” Niall chirped through the phone, answering on the first ring. He was always so damn chipper. “Don’t tell me you actually want to go out tonight?”Niall may have been Marcel’s best friend since primary school, his only friend really, but the urge to murder him got stronger with each passing day. “Why did you give my number to some guy you work with?” Marcel blurted out, completely ignoring Niall’s question.“Oh Marcey,” Niall said, his voice getting softer, but still loud because it was Niall after all. Marcel rolled his eyes at the nickname. It was something Niall picked up from Marcel’s mum and he hated it. “Louis is a really nice guy and he’s exactly your type. I thought you’d be up for it.”Or the one where Niall gave Marcel’s number to someone he worked with and Marcel wasn’t too pleased about it.





	Couldn't Dream This Up

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've always had a thing for Marcel and even though I'm pretty sure I've read all the Marcel fics in this fandom, I still don't think there's enough. So I wrote one myself. This was an idea that I've had for quite a while, just never had the opportunity to write it. This jumps around a little bit because I only had a week to write it so I didn't have the time to fluff it up as much as I'd like to, but I think I'm pretty happy with it regardless.
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "tin". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/tin_tin), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1 and 2), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/185709101043/wordplay-2019-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> Title is taken from Heaven by Kane Brown because my friend dragged me to his concert last month when I knew absolutely nothing about him and now I can't stop listening to him. And when he sings all low it just does things to me. Plus, the song is just super cute.

There were fingerprints all over the glass. Marcel loved children, he really did, he couldn’t wait to have a whole brood of his own someday, but sometimes they put their greasy little fingers where they didn’t belong. 

He sighed as he pulled out a tissue from his pocket and wiped away the smudged fingerprints on the glass of the display case. He shoved the tissue back into his pocket after the glass was sufficiently cleaned and used his pointer finger to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Damn things never stayed in place. 

As he walked back through the reading nook toward his office, he smiled at a young girl sitting on one of the beanbags, picture book open on her lap as—who Marcel assumed was her mother—read quietly to her. 

He typed in the passcode to unlock the door that led to the offices and quietly swung the door open when it unlocked with a click. He slumped down in his desk chair as soon as he made it to his own office, closing his eyes and rubbing at his temples. He could feel the dull throbbing of a migraine beginning. 

Marcel loved his job, really enjoyed it, he loved the look on a child’s face when they find a good book, but it had been one hell of a week and he was so glad it was Friday. He was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have to work on weekends. 

Next week— _next week_ ; six days to be exact—they had a new author, who became very popular very quickly, coming in for a signing and a meet and greet. The preparations for that had been _gruelling_ , far more stressful than Marcel anticipated. 

It was actually quite fun to plan and he enjoyed gathering all the decorations for the event hall where it would take place. He’d been emailing back and forth with the author working out all the details and she’d been lovely, he was actually quite looking forward to meeting her; he was also a big fan of her books. But more than anything he was ready for the whole thing to be over. 

He pulled up his to-do list on his computer and made sure he had everything crossed off and he smiled to himself when he noticed that he did. Then he double-checked his schedule was all set for next week before logging out. 

He shoved a few books and some paperwork he needed to finish up inside his messenger bag as well as the sandwich he didn’t quite get a chance to finish eating on his lunch break. He waved goodbye to Diane whose office was located across the hall from his and wished her a good weekend before leaving. 

He took the stairs down to the bottom floor of the library and walked out through the side employee door. It wasn’t quite autumn yet, but the weather was definitely getting cooler already. Marcel crossed his arms over his chest to protect himself from the chilly wind as he walked the few blocks to the building where he lived. 

The doorman held the door open for him once he reached his building and Marcel greeted him with a smile. He pressed the button for the lift and adjusted the strap of his messenger bag from where it was slipping off his shoulder. He allowed the lady waiting with him to step onto the lift first when it arrived and he followed along behind her. 

“What floor?” Marcel asked, his hand hovering in front of the button panel. 

“Four please,” she replied with a smile. 

Marcel nodded and pressed the button for the fourth floor and then the seventh for himself. Once exiting the lift, Marcel reached into the front pocket of his bag for his keys. He stopped in front of his flat and slid the key into the lock. 

He sighed as he leaned his back against the closed door; he was happy to be home. He hung his messenger bag on the coat rack just inside the front door, taking out his unfinished lunch as he wandered into the kitchen. 

Just as he put the kettle on to boil, Marcel heard his phone chime from where it was still in his bag. He assumed it was his mum, she knew he had a stressful week and she was probably checking in on him. 

Marcel pulled his phone out of his bag and frowned at the unknown number on his screen. 

_Hi this is louis. I work with your friend niall. He said it would be okay if I text you?_

Marcel stared down at the message on his phone for so long that the words started to blur together. With shaking fingers he swiped away from the text and dialled Niall’s number. 

“Marcel!” Niall chirped through the phone, answering on the first ring. He was always so damn chipper. “Don’t tell me you actually want to go out tonight?”

Niall may have been Marcel’s best friend since primary school, his _only_ friend really, but the urge to murder him got stronger with each passing day. “Why did you give my number to some guy you work with?” Marcel blurted out, completely ignoring Niall’s question. 

“Oh Marcey,” Niall said, his voice getting softer, but still loud because it was Niall after all. Marcel rolled his eyes at the nickname. It was something Niall picked up from Marcel’s mum and he hated it. “Louis is a really nice guy and he’s exactly your type. I thought you’d be up for it.”

“I don’t care if he’s my type or not, Niall, I don’t know him,” Marcel whined. He was acting like a child, he knew he was, but Niall gave out his number to some random bloke. He could be a serial killer for all he knew. 

“That’s the whole point of him texting you, so you can get to know him,” Niall explained. “And then you’ll fall in love, marry him, and have lots of sex and babies.”

“Don’t quote _Love Actually_ at me right now I’m mad at you.” Rest In Peace, Alan Rickman. Marcel may or may not have curled up in a ball on his kitchen floor and cried for hours when he found out he died. He was a big fan okay. 

“I just want you to be happy and for you to find your person.” Marcel _was_ happy, he didn’t need a _person_ to make him so. “I promise you that Louis is a good guy. Just give him a chance, okay? For me. And if you guys don’t hit it off then I give you permission to disown me as your best friend.”

Marcel pouted. “I’m already considering doing that, to be honest.” 

“I love you too, Marcey,” Niall said. “Now run along and text that boy back. Thank me later!” Then he hung up. 

Marcel sighed, swiping to close out of his phone book and opening his messages. The grey bubble from Louis was sitting there staring up at him from the screen. He didn’t know a single thing about this guy, but he trusted Niall with his life, so if Niall said Louis is decent, he must be. 

And maybe not knowing anything about him was kind of a good thing. They could text, get to know each other, and if things didn’t go well Marcel could just delete and block his number, end of story. 

His fingers shook as he typed out a reply. _Hi_. That was it. That was all he could think of to say, but now that it was sent there was no going back. 

Not even five seconds later, three little dots popped up showing Louis was typing. _Hey! Niall didn’t tell me much about you just your name. Marcel right?_

_Yeah I’m marcel._

_Oh good! At least he wasn’t lying about that. You can never know with him._

_Yeah you can’t trust that one_

_So how are you? How was your day? Have any wild Friday night plans?_

The kettle hissed causing Marcel to jump, he’d completely forgotten he put it on. He walked back into the kitchen, taking a mug down from the cabinet and plopped in a tea bag, pouring the water over it. 

He thought about his plans for tonight and honestly, he didn’t have any. He didn’t have any for the entire weekend actually. Marcel just wanted to relax after his crazy week. 

He took a sip of his tea before typing out a reply. _No plans. I had a pretty stressful week so I’m just gonna relax this weekend. What about you?_

Marcel grabbed his tea and his unfinished sandwich from lunch and moved into the living room. He placed everything down on the coffee table, including his phone, and headed into his bedroom to change clothes. He pulled on a pair of trackies and one of his favourite soft oversized t-shirts. 

By the time he made it back into the living room, he already had a reply from Louis waiting for him. He swiped it open to read it as he settled into the sofa. 

_I’m sorry you had a stressful week hopefully a relaxing weekend will help! I’m frantically cleaning my flat right now because my younger sisters are staying with me this weekend._

_Oh that sounds nice. How old are they?_ Marcel typed out. 

_They’re both 15. They’re twins._ For someone who was apparently cleaning their flat, Louis was certainly replying very quickly. 

They continued texting for the rest of the night, Marcel learning even more about Louis’ sisters; that they were coming to stay with him for the weekend because he was taking them to a concert tomorrow night. There was just _something_ about Louis that made Marcel feel comfortable. 

He didn’t know much about him, just that he had two younger twin sisters and he worked with Niall, but it was so easy to talk to him. Maybe it was just because they were texting and it was always easier to text because you had time to think and edit a response, but already Marcel enjoyed talking to him. And Marcel wasn’t much of a people person. 

Granted, he was a librarian and kind of dealt with people all the time, well children so it wasn’t technically the same. Not like children weren’t people, they _were_ , obviously, but they were like better versions of people. Always unafraid to say what was on their minds and just didn’t really care what people thought of them. That was always something Marcel aspired to be. 

He was fading fast, starting to fall asleep on the sofa, and he decided it was time to move to his bed. Marcel crawled between the sheets and settled in, wishing Louis a goodnight before switching his phone to do not disturb and quickly fell asleep. 

—

It felt amazing to wake up without the pressure of an alarm, to be able to sleep in and then stay in bed for as long as you wanted once you woke up, and Marcel was taking full advantage of it. He had slept in longer than he usually did on the weekends, but he wasn’t going to be too upset about it, he could tell his body needed the rest. 

He would have stayed in bed in longer, perhaps even all day, if it weren’t for the rumbling in his stomach. He needed food. He rolled over and grabbed his phone for off the nightstand, switching off do not disturb. Immediately it vibrated with a new text message.

It was from Louis, almost two hours ago, and Marcel smiled as he read over it. _Good morning! I’m up before the sun today (on a Saturday!!!) because I have to pick up my sisters from the train station. I swear the things I do for family. Hope you have a good day!_

Something warm bubbled up in Marcel’s chest as he read it again. He had never received a good morning text from someone before and it felt _nice_. He quickly typed out a replying to Louis, telling him good morning and hoping he had fun with his sisters.

Reluctantly, he rolled out of bed and slipped on the same trackies and t-shirt that he wore last night. He walked out into the living room, pulling open the curtains, the sunlight filtering in to light up the room. He plugged his phone in to charge on the kitchen side as he worked on making himself breakfast.

Bacon and eggs were pretty much all Marcel had in his refrigerator; he needed to do a food shop. He didn't even have any bread left to make toast. He fried up the eggs in one pan and placed the bacon in another, the meat sizzling as soon as it touched the hot pan. Marcel popped a coffee pod into his coffee pot and set that to brew.

After his breakfast was finished, Marcel piled all of his food onto a plate. He unplugged his phone and slid it into the pocket of his trackies, grabbed the plate in one hand and his mug of coffee in the other and headed for his office.

It was just the spare bedroom that he had turned into his home office since he lived by himself. It wasn't much, just a desk against the far wall underneath the window, a reclining chair and a lamp in the corner by the door, and one wall filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves, which was about ninety perfect children's books. So yeah, it wasn’t much of anything to look at, but it was definitely Marcel’s favourite room in his flat and where he spent the majority of his time. From one office at work to another office at home. He really needed to get a life.

He didn’t hear much from Louis the whole day, just little updates here and there from his time with his sisters. Like a picture of their lunch at Nando’s, Louis complaining about taking the girls shopping and them wanting to go in every single shop they passed, and even a picture of the stage from their seats at the concert. Marcel replied enthusiastically to each one, excited to get snippets from Louis’ day, that Louis was _wanting_ him to know about it.

Marcel didn't have anything remotely exciting to send back about his own day. He spent most of it sketching out ideas for how to set up the event hall for their author visit next week and ironing out all the last minute details. They already had most of the decorations ready to go, but there were still a few they were waiting on to be delivered. Like the main ones; the cardboard cutouts of the three main characters of her book. If those didn’t arrive in time, Marcel would be fucked.

He clicked off the lamp on his way out of his office and placed the dirty dishes from his breakfast in the sink. He hadn't even left the room the whole day, his plate and mug sitting on the desk next to while he worked. He ordered a takeaway for dinner and planned on doing his food shop in the morning.

His phone had been silent for the last hour and a half, and Marcel assumed that the concert had started and Louis was paying all of his attention to that. He felt almost _lonely_ not having Louis to text right now, sure Marcel could send him something but he most likely wouldn't get a reply until after the concert. It was funny how dependent Marcel was on their texting already, it was only just over twenty-four hours since they started, and it felt like a normal part of his day. 

He ate his dinner in front of the television and then he pulled out a book from his bookshelves that wasn't one intended for children, and read until he fell asleep.

—

The weekend passed by far too quickly for Marcel’s liking, as did the majority of the week. It was now Thursday morning and their author would be arriving any minute. Marcel waited in the lobby of the library, nerves causing his stomach to flutter.

He recognized her instantly when she entered through the doors, and he rushed over to her and shook her hand, introducing himself. She smiled and said she remembered him from their emails, and he led her to the employee lift and onto the third floor where the event hall was located.

Everything went off without a hitch and Marcel couldn't be more relieved. The cardboard cutouts arrived just an hour before the singing was set to begin, cutting a little too close than Marcel would have liked it, but better late than never. The author loved the decorations and how everything was set up, the children and parents that attended seemed to have a blast, and Marcel even got his own copy of her book signed. Overall, it was a great day and Marcel could _finally_ breathe a sigh of relief after having been stressing over this for over a month.

As he was cleaning up after the singing had ended and the author left, Marcel felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was most likely Louis responding to the text Marcel had sent him earlier in the day about how nervous he was for this event. They had been texting nonstop since almost a week ago when Marcel received that first text from Louis, and he could easily say that he and Louis were good friends now. Marcel felt more comfortable confiding in Louis than he ever had with Niall and there were things Louis knew about him that Niall didn't. Maybe that was crazy after only knowing Louis for a week and having known Niall for almost his whole life, but it just felt _right_ with Louis.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Marcel swiped open the message with his thumb to read it, and his heart jumped as he did so. _It's probably over by now but I'm sure it went great! You've worked so hard on this and I know those kiddos loved it!_

Reading a simple text from Louis like that one could cheer Marcel up in an instant. He was already pretty happy with how the event went, but that just increased his mood tenfold. So maybe Marcel had also started to develop a little crush on Louis, but that was neither here nor there.

—

It was Sunday evening and Marcel hadn't heard from Louis all day. It wasn't like he was _worried_ or anything, Louis had his own life, had his own friends that he enjoyed going out with so he was probably just busy doing that. Having a life. Marcel couldn't relate.

He stared down at his and Louis’ text thread which was open on his phone, the last one was sent from Louis at half nine last night. Marcel’s thumbs hovered over the screen, contemplating whether he should send anything or not. He typed out a message and hit send before he even realized what he was doing.

As soon as he read it over, he instantly regretted it. _Hey haven't heard from you all day! Hope you're well!_ That was clingy. That sounded clingy, right? And that was definitely the last thing Marcel wanted to come across as. How do you unsend a message that was already sent? 

He didn't have much time to get worked up over it because he soon saw those three little dots appear that meant Louis was replying. Oh god, hopefully, Louis wasn’t telling him to back off. _Sorry was at my mates all day. But I'm home now just got back in from taking my dog for a walk._

_Oh you have a dog?_ Marcel typed back, feeling relieved that Louis didn’t think he was clingy. Well, at least he didn’t mention it if he did. 

_I do his name is Clifford. He’s a big dopey oaf but I love him._

Marcel’s heart swelled, he loved dogs. He loved all animals actually. Except for spiders. Fuck spiders. _What kind of dog is he?_

_A labradoodle._ Louis replied. _We’re cuddling right now actually._

Marcel smiled as he imagined that. He didn’t even know what Louis looked like, they hadn’t exchanged pictures or anything, hadn’t even talked on the phone, but Marcel kind of made up what he thought Louis looked like in his head. 

It wasn’t like Marcel had to know what Louis looked like, he already liked him, _really_ liked him, without knowing. He liked Louis for his personality and his humour, his looks didn’t really matter. But that didn’t mean that Marcel wasn’t tempted to ask for a selfie, he had been several times, but he was too nervous to ever say anything. And he was definitely too scared to send one of himself, Louis would for sure stop talking to him if he knew what Marcel looked like. 

Before Marcel had a chance to reply to Louis’ text, another one came in, this time with a picture attached. Marcel opened it, assuming it was a picture of Louis’ dog and technically it _was_ , but it took Marcel probably five minutes to realize that because Louis was also in the photo. 

He was, _god_ , he was fucking gorgeous. The image Marcel had created in his head paled in comparison to the real thing. Louis had a light dusting of hair over his chin and upper lip, feathery hair swept across his forehead, what looked like a tattoo on his wrist, and the bluest eyes Marcel had ever seen. They put the blue on his shirt to shame. 

_Hope you don’t mind my face being in it._ Another message came through pulling Marcel out of his Louis induced haze. _He’s asleep and I didn’t want to wake him. He gets grumpy when I interrupt his cuddles._

_No it’s okay. It’s nice._ Marcel sent back, his brain obviously still having trouble functioning like normal. He was an idiot. 

_My face is nice?_ Marcel just knew Louis was smirking as he sent that. 

Marcel swiped out of his messages and into his phone book, pressing call on the third person in his favourites. 

“Marcel!” Niall chirped a little too loudly into the phone. “How are ya, mate?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that Louis is stupidly gorgeous?” Marcel said instead, surely that would tell Niall how he was right now. 

Niall cackled and Marcel winced, pulling his phone away from his ear. “I told you he was your type.” Marcel was sure that Louis was _everyone’s_ type. No way anyone would think he wasn’t incredibly beautiful. 

“He can’t work with you,” Marcel said. 

“Uh, yeah he does,” Niall muttered, confusion evident in his voice. “We have lunch together.”

“No,” Marcel shook his head. “He has to be a model or something. Have you seen his face?”

“Yeah, unfortunately, I have to see his ugly mug every day at work,” Niall laughed. Marcel knew it was a joke, but it should be illegal to call Louis ugly. “This is good though, right? You like him and you seem to be into how he looks, so ask him out.”

“No, Niall I can’t,” Marcel whined, sitting himself on his kitchen floor because he was currently having a crisis and he couldn’t do it standing up. “This _isn’t_ good, this makes everything worse.”

“Why?”

“Because a guy like him would never like a guy like me.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean,” Niall asked. 

“Like, he’s perfect,” Marcel whinged. He could feel his phone vibrating in his hand and he knew Louis was texting him but he was too scared to look. “He looks like he’s been crafted by baby angles or something. And I’m just me. I’m kinda nerdy, my skin is blotchy and greasy, my glasses are too big for my face and I—“

“Stop,” Niall interjected. “I hate when you put yourself down like that. You’re a great guy, Marcel, give yourself some credit.” Marcel knew Niall was right, but why was it so hard to build yourself you but so easy to tear yourself down? “Look, Louis isn’t going to care what you look like, he isn’t like that. He likes you for you.”

“I don’t even know if Louis likes me like _that_ though,” Marcel said. 

“He does.”

“How do you know? You’re just saying that to reassure me.”

Niall sighed and Marcel could tell he was getting irritated. Honestly, Niall deserved the world for always putting up with Marcel. He didn’t know what he did to deserve such a good friend, but he was forever grateful. “I’m not just saying that. You’re a good looking guy, okay. Louis will think so too.”

“But you’re my best friend,” Marcel pouted. “You’re supposed to say that. Plus, you’re straight so that doesn’t even mean anything.”

“Hey,” Niall chastised. “Just because I’m straight doesn't mean I can’t appreciate a pretty man. And you’re a pretty man.”

Niall continued to talk Marcel off the ledge, he was really going through it. How did he continue to talk to Louis when he just looked like _that_? And how did he continue to talk to him when he knew that Louis would want nothing to do with him if he knew what Marcel looked like.

He picked up his phone from where he set it on the floor next to him when he hung up with Niall. He thumbed through to his text thread with Louis and read over the last couple texts that Louis had sent him while he was talking to Niall.

_Well thank you. I would say the same about you but I don’t actually know._

_That was my roundabout way of asking you to send me a selfie. I’d love to know what you look like but only if you’re comfy with it of course!_

_I’m guessing you're not comfortable with it because you’ve disappeared on me. I’m sorry if I crossed a line or something._

Great, now he’d gone and upset Louis. Today was just going swell.

_Sorry I was on the phone._ Marcel typed out. _I’m not comfortable sending you a selfie right now but maybe later_.

_That’s totally fine!!_ Louis replied almost immediately. _No pressure to send one at all!_

Marcel sighed, finally standing up from the kitchen floor. Louis was too good; always so kind and he knew just the right things to say. Marcel made himself a cup of tea and curled up in the armchair in his office with a book.

— 

_What are you doing right now?_

Absolutely nothing. That was what Marcel was doing. He’d laid down on his couch the second he walked into his flat from work and he hadn’t moved since. It had been a very long day at work and he didn’t plan on moving from the sofa at all. Well, until he got too tired and then he’d move to his bed. Maybe. If he could muster up the energy. He could just sleep on his couch. It definitely wouldn't be the first time.

Marcel held his phone up above his head so he could reply. _Not much. How about you?_

_Can I call you?_

The grip he had on his phone loosed and it slipped out of his hands landing on the bridge of his nose. “Fuck,” Marcel hissed, rubbing at his nose with his fingertips, hoping it wasn’t broken. He picked his phone up and Louis’ message was still sitting there waiting to be answered.

This was a big step, a _huge_ step. They had been texting for over a month now and Marcel assumed this would be coming at some point, but he still wasn’t sure he was ready yet. He was already in too deep, harbouring quite a big crush on Louis, and the thought of finally getting to hear his voice sent a jolt of nervous excitement through him.

_Okay._

Only a few seconds after Marcel hit send, his phone started ringing. He started at Louis’ name on his screen for a second trying to steel himself before pressing the little green button to answer. He took a deep breath and brought the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”

“Marcel?” His heart leapt in his chest at finally hearing Louis say his name.

“Yes, hi,” Marcel said, suddenly feeling very shy. “Uh, how are you?”

“I’m good,” Louis responded. “Your voice is much deeper than I imagined.”

“Oh, sorry,” Marcle muttered, blushing.

“Don’t apologize,” Louis laughed. Wow, that was such a lovely sound. “I like it. It’s soothing.”

Louis’s voice was nice as well; light and airy with the tiniest bit of rasp to it. It suited him. “Thanks.”

“So,” Louis said. “What are you wearing?”

Marcel sat up on the sofa, his eyes going wide. “What?” He squeaked.

Louis laughed again and Marcel didn’t think he’d ever get used to the butterflies that kick-started in his stomach each time he heard Louis laugh. “I’m joking! Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

He laid back down, wriggling until he got comfortable again, and he chewed his lip as he thought about the question. Might as well answer truthfully. “Not really. I’ll probably clean my flat at some point. It’s a tip.” His mail was strewn across his coffee table, he’d left a pair of shoes in the entryway, and his trash can was full and needed to be taken to the trash chute. So yeah, it had really gotten out of hand.

“Riveting,” Louis joked. “I’m heading home this weekend, leaving after work tomorrow. My sister got a new boyfriend and mum wants everyone ‘round for dinner.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.”

“Yeah, should be. I think my sister’s boyfriends are more intimated to meet me than my mum, so that’s always fun.” Marcel nodded as he listened. He could understand that, Louis could be a bit intimidating at times.

They talked for the rest of the night, Marcel enjoying the melodic lilt of Louis’ voice. He hoped they could do this more often because he could honestly listen to Louis talk forever and never get bored.

—

Marcel was just crawling into bed, ready to turn in for the night and wake up early for work in the morning, when his phone started to ring. He was surprised when he saw Louis’ name on his screen. They hadn’t spoken very much over the weekend seeing as Louis was home with his family and Marcel wasn’t expecting to hear anything from him until tomorrow when Louis was back on his normal schedule.

“Hey,” Marcel greeted. He held his phone to his ear with his shoulder as he got himself situated underneath the sheets. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you tonight.”

“Yeah, I just got in,” Louis said. “But I wanted to hear your voice before I went to sleep.”

Marcel’s heart sped up, clanging against his ribcage. Sometimes Louis would say things like that, just little subtle things, that made Marcel think that maybe Louis was interested in him as more than a friend. And they always made Marcel’s insides turn to goo. “How was your mum’s?”

“It was nice,” Louis replied. “Fizzy’s a bit quiet compared to the rest of us, we’re quite a loud family, and her boyfriend was similar. I could tell from the way he looked at her, the way he talked to her, that he really cared for it. They seem really happy together and all I want is for her to be happy, so I approve.”

“Sometimes I just want something like that, you know?” Marcel said, not knowing where this was even coming from or where he found the courage to admit it, but he couldn't stop now. “Like someone to come home to after work, someone to talk to, to cook for, someone to cuddle with at night. I’ve never had that before and it seems like everyone else around me does. I know it sounds stupid but I—“

“I could do that for you,” Louis interjected in the middle of Marcel’s sentence.

Marcel’s jaw dropped. No way Louis meant what Marcel thought he meant. “What?”

“I could do that for you,” Louis repeated. “Be that person for you, I mean, because I like you. As more than a friend. I kinda fancy you a bit. Actually, I fancy the shit out of you it drives me mad sometimes.” 

“What? You do?” Marcel breathed. He couldn’t believe it. “But you don’t even know me.” 

“But I do know you, Marcel,” Louis said. “We’ve been talking pretty much daily for over a month now, so I do know you. You’re incredibly smart, you’re hardworking, and driven. You’re witty and funny as hell. You’re one of the only few people I know that actually puts up with my shit and even gives it right back to me just as much as I give it.”

Marcel ignored the innuendo in what Louis just said and instead focused on that fact that Louis likes him. Like actually likes him. What the fuck. Is he dreaming? He must have been silent for too long because Louis began rambling. 

“I’m sorry if that’s weird. I’ve been trying to work up the courage to tell you for a while and I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same. Which is totally fine if you don’t, just being friends with you is enough for me.”

“I like you too,” Marcel whispered, too nervous to say it any louder. The fact that Louis even thought that Marcel might not like him back was ridiculous.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Marcel said. “I have for a while now.”

“That’s good to know,” Louis said and Marcel could hear the smile in his voice. “But I should get some sleep now. Got work in the morning.”

Marcel hummed. He felt like he was floating in the clouds instead of laying in his bed. “Yeah, me too. I’m already in bed.”

“That’s a nice thought,” Louis mumbled and Marcel was too tired to even question what he meant by that. “Goodnight, Marcel.”

“Goodnight, Louis.”

— 

His head was _pounding_. He’d been suffering from this headache all day and it only seemed to be getting worse instead of better. Marcel took a gulp from his water bottle and then rested his head on top of his desk. Maybe he could just take a little nap, surely no one would notice.

His phone started ringing and he groaned. Any bit of sound made his head throb even harder. He blindly reached out, fingers coming into contact with his phone and he brought it up to his ear. “Hello?” He said without even looking to see who was calling.

“Where are you?” Louis asked and Marcel perked up just a smidge. The sound of Louis’ voice would definitely help dull the ache in his head. “You sound like you’re inside a tin can.”

“I’m in my office at the library,” Marcel told him, letting his eyes fall shut. “There’s always been a bad echo in here.”

“Okay, well, I have a question for you. Tonight is my mate’s birthday and we’re all going out for drinks and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. Like as my date.”

Marcel’s eyes flew open at that and he sat up straight in his chair. This was the first time either of them had ever addressed possibly meeting in person. Marcel had definitely _thought_ about it but was too scared to ever bring it up in conversation. He wanted to, god, he wanted to. He knew how gorgeous Louis was in photos, he could only imagine what it was like in person, but he was scared. Really fucking scared. “You want me to go with you?”

“Yeah. If my mates find out I’m still single, they’ll never stop giving me hell,” Louis said.

Marcel’s heart sank and he slumped back down on his desk. So Louis didn’t really want to go on a date with him at all, he was just using him. Awesome. That felt great. “I don’t think I can, sorry.”

“Oh, okay,” Louis actually sounded disappointed and Marcel felt a little guilty. “Well, another time then, yeah?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

—

Marcel was curled up on his sofa, a mug of tea in his hand, and the Netflix menu opened on his television. He was just about to scroll through and find something to watch when there was a knock at his door. He frowned, glancing at the clock in the kitchen to check the time. A little after ten at night. Who would be visiting him this late?

He swung his door open and was honestly not surprised at all to see Niall standing on the other side. “Marcel!” Niall called out, opening his arms wide to pull Marcel into a hug. “Long time no see.”

Marcel instantly felt guilty. It was true; he hadn’t seen Niall in a while, hadn’t talked to him all that much either. Ever since Louis came into his life, he was really all Marel thought about. “Hey, Niall. What are you doing here?”

“We’re going out tonight, mate.” Niall patted Marcel on the back and let himself into the flat.

“What? No, we aren’t,” Marcel said, pushing to close the front door.

“Oh, yes we are,” Niall countered. “Now go put on something cute, I’ll wait for you here.”

Marcel groaned as he stomped off to his bedroom. He knew there was no use putting up a fight, Niall always got his way. He changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a flowy blouse that his sister had given him for his birthday last year. He cleaned off the fingerprint smudges from the lenses of his glasses, tamed his hair as best as he could, and spritzed on a bit on cologne before meeting back up with Niall in the living room.

Niall wolf-whistled as soon as he walked out and Marcled blushed. “Lookin’ hot, Marcey. You’re gonna be fighting off all the boys tonight.” Marcel rolled his eyes as he shoved past Niall, picking up his keys from the kitchen counter.

Walking into the pub, Marcel felt incredibly out of place. He didn't go out very often, just on the rare occasions when Niall forced him to like he did tonight. He didn’t mind a drink every now and then, but he preferred it to be in the comfort of his own home. At least they only went to a pub and not a club because Marcel would definitely be uncomfortable there the entire night.

Niall ushered him over to an empty booth and told Marcel to sit while he went to the bar to get their drinks. Marcel did as he was told and slid into one side of the booth, the leather was worn and uncomfortable and smelled of stale beer. He picked at the chipping paint on the edge of the table while he waited and his eyes flicked up to the entrance when a boisterous group of men entered through the doors.

There was a certain laugh in that group that caused Marcel’s ear to perk up. There was something oddly familiar about it, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. That was until one of the men at the back of the group moved around to the front and Marcel’s eyes widened and his heart plummeted. It was Louis.

He glanced over to the bar where Niall was thankfully being handed two pint glasses and was now on his way back to their booth. “Niall,” Marcel whispered harshly once Niall was at their table, setting their beers down. “Louis is here.”

Niall looked over his shoulder to the entrance where the group of men and _Louis_ were still standing. “Oh, I know.”

Marcel frowned, starting to put two and two together in his head. “What do you mean you know?” He asked slowly.

“It’s our mate’s birthday. He also works with us.”

“You arsehole,” Marcel hissed, whacking Niall in the arm. “That’s why you insisted on me coming out tonight.”

“Yes,” Niall said sternly. “Louis told me that you turned him down when he asked you so I thought I’d drag you out instead. You two obviously like each other and need to get your shit together because I’m tired of it.”

Marcel was about to say something back about how he didn’t know it had gotten so bad that Niall had noticed, but another voice caught Niall’s attention before he could.

“Niall!” Louis called out as he walked toward their booth.

“Tommo,” Niall called back. “About time you fucking showed up.”

“I showed up with everyone else, you’re just early,” Louis said. And then, the worst possible thing happened. Louis finally reached their booth and he turned to Marcel, their eyes locking. Marcel immediately looked away, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. He already knew Louis was gorgeous, but he was even more so in person. Marcel couldn’t even look at him for too long, it was like staring directly at the sun. He couldn’t do this and there was no way he could escape without being rude. He _hated_ Niall for making him come out tonight. “Who’s this?”

Niall smiled like the fucking arsehole he was. “This is someone I’ve been dying for you to meet. Louis, this is—”

“Harry,” Marcel said before Niall had the chance to say his real name. He didn’t even know where he got Harry from, it was just the first thing that popped into his head. He tried to change the way his voice sounded because he knew Louis would recognize it, but it just seemed like he had a sore throat. 

Niall kicked his shin underneath the table and Louis quirked a brow at him, almost like he knew that wasn’t really his name. “Nice to meet you, Harry. I’m Louis.” He raised an arm and held out a hand toward Marcel. 

There weren't any fireworks or sparks shooting through him as you read about in books when their hands touched, but it was almost like something inside Marcel _clicked_ into place. He just hoped Louis couldn’t tell how sweaty his palms were. 

He stayed close to Niall’s side for the rest of the night—who was a little peeved about the whole name thing, but Marcel was pissed at him for bringing him here so it evened out. He only spoke when it was absolutely necessary because he knew that would give him away and he tried to ignore the glances Louis was shooting him all night. 

Louis knew, he fucking knew, but he was too nice to say anything, too nice to turn Marcel down in front of all these people. Because that was just who Louis was, his heart was just that big, he cared too deeply for people and even though he didn’t want to be with Marcel now that they’d met and Marcel _lied to him_ , Louis wouldn’t do anything to intentionally upset him. 

As soon as everyone agrees to call it a night, Marcel said a quick goodbye to Niall and got the hell out of there. 

—

Luckily, Louis never mentioned the night at the pub, so maybe he didn’t know it was Marcel after all. He was incredibly thankful for that, he could barely speak to Louis for a couple of days after that, he was so embarrassed.

“Then Niall walked in, completely drenched, totally nonchalant and then—” 

Marcel tuned out as Louis told him about how they had a pipe burst in the office today, almost flooding the place. He had literally _just_ stepped out of the shower when Louis called. Marcel had to rush across his bathroom for a towel to quickly dry himself off so he could answer.

He was still trying to go about his nighttime routine as normal so he could go to bed, he was exhausted, but Louis could be very distracting. All Louis had been going on about since Marcel answered the phone almost ten minutes ago, was the damn pipe bursting. It was funny the first maybe two minutes, but now Marcel was tired and he just wanted to _sleep_. 

He was currently digging through the cabinet underneath his sink for his tub of moisturizer, Louis’ voice floating into his bathroom from where his phone was lying on his nightstand on speaker. Marcel moved aside some spare towels, extra rolls of toilet paper, cotton buds, but there was no fucking moisturizer in sight. He _knew_ it was down there, it was where he always kept it, and it was in a giant arse tub, it’s not like he could easily overlook it. He finally broke down and bought the largest size the last time he ran out because he used it so often. 

Marcel huffed, his glasses fogging up because he was starting to sweat. It was so damn hot under here. He grabbed just a regular bottle of lotion instead. That would have to do for now. He must have used up all of his moisturizer, he thought he was getting low anyway.

“Marcel?” He heard clear as day. Louis sounded a tad annoyed, like maybe that wasn’t the first time he tried to get Marcel’s attention. Marcel made to stand up, but totally forgot he was halfway inside a cabinet and banged his head against the top of it.

“Ow, fuck,” he muttered, bringing a hand up to the back of his head to make sure he didn’t break the skin. It didn’t feel like it, but it would probably be sore for a few days. “Yes, I’m listening,” he called out to Louis.

He heard Louis laugh as he walked back into his bedroom. “It’s okay, babe.” Marcel’s breathe caught and his heart flipped in his chest. _Babe_. Louis had never called him a pet name before and he liked it, liked the way it made him feel. “It’s not like it was a very exciting story. Didn’t mean to bore you, sorry.”

“No, you weren’t boring me. It’s fine,” Marcel said.

“You don’t have to lie, Marce, it’s not like—” Louis stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. Marcel frowned and checked his phone to make sure the call was still connected. It was. “What was that noise?”

Marcel froze, listening for whatever noise Louis could be talking about. He didn’t hear anything. Maybe Louis had heard the sound of the lotion squirting out of the bottle when Marcel poured some in his hand, but it hadn’t been _that_ loud, had it? “What noise?”

“That, like, _snick_ noise,” Louis explained, imitating the sound that he heard. “Was that—” he paused, gasping. “—was that _lube_?” He whispered the last word like it was something dirty. And to Marcel it almost was. “Marcel, are you wanking?”

“ _What_? Oh my god, no,” Marcel said, fumbling with the bottle of lotion as it slipped between his fingers and landed on the floor with a dull thud. “It was lotion. I was opening a bottle of lotion. I don’t even own lube.”

“You don’t own lube?” Louis asked, sounding like that was the most far fetched thing he had ever heard. “How you do wank?” 

“I don’t.”

“You don’t wank? How do you get off?”

“No, no. I mean I _do_ ,” Marcel said. God, this was so embarrassing. He couldn’t believe Louis was talking about this with him and so _casually_. “But, like, in the shower.”

“Marce,” Louis said almost like he was scolding him. “You need to invest in some lube. It’ll feel so much better than it does in the shower. Go out and buy some then thank me later.” And that was that. Louis quickly changed the subject to the fucking weather of all things.

— 

He held the bottle of lube in his hand—which you could tell was very obviously used—and snapped a photo of it. He sent it off to Louis along with a message saying how life-changing it was and thanking Louis for telling him about it. 

Obtaining the lube was far more embarrassing than Marcel thought it would be. He bought more of his moisturizer, because that was something he actually needed, and a few other random things like; toothpaste, deodorant, and a packet of gum, just so it wasn’t obvious that he was at the pharmacy just to buy lube.

He wasn’t even sure what kind of get, there were _so many_ , like an entire shelf full of just lube. He picked one that seemed the less intimidating and unflavoured because what the hell was that for? He hoped that it was just your basic “going to use this to jerk off because the guy I fancy said it would feel good” but unfortunately none of the labels actually said that.

The lady working behind the till was lovely. She didn’t even bat an eye as she scanned it. Probably because she was used to that kind of thing working at a pharmacy and all, but Marcel was sure that his cheeks were on _fire_. He could not get out of there fast enough after she handed over his bag of items with a smile.

_Seconds_ after sending Louis that picture, Marcel’s phone started ringing. 

“Did you wank?” Louis asked in lieu of an answer. 

“ _Louis_ ,” Marcel said, scandalized. He had never been very comfortable talking about _sexual_ things, but Louis made him brave in all kinds of ways. Plus, he kind of _wanted_ to talk about sexual things with Louis because he wanted to _do_ sexual things with Louis. But it was also a little awkward talking about wanking with the person you thought about while you were wanking. 

“Hey, you don’t have to be embarrassed,” Louis said. “We’re both lads, yeah? We’ve got the same parts.”

Yeah, that didn’t help at all because now Marcel was just thinking about Louis’ _parts_. “Yes, I—I did.”

“Mmm,” Louis hummed. “And how was it? How’d it feel?”

“Uh,” Marcel didn’t even know how to reply to that. “Good?” He phrased it like a question because he wasn’t even sure if that was the right answer or not. 

“Yeah? Was the glide nice and smooth?”

His cock gave a little twitch at Louis’ words and he was not about to get hard again while on the phone with Louis. Marcel nodded in answer even though he clearly knew that Louis couldn't see him. He didn’t want to open his mouth to answer that because he was afraid he would say something he would regret.

He had thought about having Louis’ voice in his ear while he jerked off and now that he actually _did_ have Louis’ voice in his ear talking about the smooth glide of using lube was doing things to Marcel. His brain had officially moved to his cock.

“I thought about you while I did it.” No, no, _fuck_. The instant the words left Marcel’s mouth he slapped a hand over his mouth. He did _not_ mean to say that out loud. How do you take back words you’ve already said? He wanted to crawl underneath all the sheets on his bed and stay there forever.

There was a sharp inhale from the other end of the phone. “What?”

Marcel’s eyes darted around his bedroom in search of something that could save him from his mortification, but it was hopeless. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go.” He hung up the phone before Louis even had a chance to respond.

Literal _seconds_ later, Marcel’s phone started ringing. He glanced at the screen even though he knew it was Louis. He tossed his phone to the side and scurried to the opposite side of his room to get as far away as possible in hopes that would somehow stop Louis from calling him.

He breathed out a sigh of relief when the ringing ceased, but it was all in vain because it started ringing again just as quickly as it stopped. Marcel slumped against the wall and slid down until his bum hit the floor, his back tucked into the corner of the room. He didn’t even care that he was still completely naked.

This was it, this was when Louis told him he didn’t want to talk to him anymore; Marcel took it too far and made him uncomfortable and he didn’t want to be friends anymore. And since Louis was so _nice_ he’d let Marcel down gently, make sure no feelings were hurt in the process.

But, Marcel knew that Louis had feelings for him because Louis himself told him that he did. People with feelings for each other, in relationships, did _sexy_ things, right? Like that was a normal thing, but maybe Louis wasn’t into that and now Marcel had ruined the best thing to ever happen to him.

His phone had sat in silence for so long, that when it chimed with a text, Marcel jumped. Great, Louis had given up and was now resorting to breaking up with him via text. A friendship breakup of course because they weren't anything more than that.

Marcel stood up from his spot in the corner and slowly made his way over to his bed where his phone was lying atop the mattress. He took a deep breath as he picked his phone up and swiped it open to read Louis’ text. As soon as he saw the _picture_ Louis had sent him, Marcel shrieked and threw his phone back onto his bed, turning around with his eyes squeezed shut.

His heart was beating double time and his cock was stirring _again_. He reached behind him blindly for his phone to double-check that Louis’ message was real and his mind wasn't just playing tricks on him. When he glanced back down at the screen, the picture was still there. Louis _really_ just sent him that.

It was a picture of Louis, his face barely in it, his stubbly chin and cheek just on the edge of the frame. He was shirtless, the muscles in his abdomen scrunched together because of the awkward angle he took the picture from. And then, _then_ , the main part of the photo, the _best_ part of the photo, was just below Louis’ belly button.

He was still wearing his boxer briefs—a shade of dark blue that looked lovely against his golden skin—which to Marcel looked about several sizes too small for him because they were _tight_. Louis’ cock, _god his cock_ , which was hard, was almost bursting through the fabric. There was just the slightest tease of the tip peeking out from underneath the waistband and Marcel could _clearly_ make out the shape of him through the fabric. His mouth was watering.

It took _minutes_ of Marcel staring at the photo before he realized there was an actual message along with it. _The thought of you thinking about me while you wanked made me like this_. If Marcel wasn’t hard from just seeing the picture, he definitely was now. He hit dial on Louis’ number without even thinking about it.

“Hey,” Louis answered on the first ring.

“Hi,” Marcel replied shyly, suddenly very, very nervous. He crawled back onto his bed, resting his head on his pillow.

“So,” Louis drawled, his voice huskier than usual. It made Marcel shiver. “You thought about me?”

Marcel swallowed. So Louis was jumping straight into this then. “I did.” 

“And you saw my picture?” Louis asked.

“I did,” Marcel repeated. The picture popped into his head and his cock twitched.

“So you know how I feel about that then, yeah?” Louis said. “Why did you run?”

Marcel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why did he run? Because he’s an idiot, because he embarrassed himself, because he didn’t think that there was any possible way that Louis felt the same. “I was afraid I took it too far and made you uncomfortable.”

“Marce,” Louis said, his voice back to its usual softness, but there was an underlying gravelyness to it; he was still turned on. “You know I fancy you, so obviously I’m attracted to you in like every way possible. I’ve thought about you every time I’ve wanked since basically the first day we talked.”

Marcel’s jaw dropped open. “You have?”

He heard some shuffling come from the other end of the line before Louis replied. “Yes. God, I’m _so_ attracted to you, Marcel, I don’t know how else to prove it to you.”

It wasn’t like Marcel _didn’t_ believe him, he did. Louis had talked about it plenty of times now that Marcel knew he meant it, but sometimes it was just a little hard to believe, hard to wrap his mind around it. How could someone like Louis be interested in someone like Marcel? They were worlds different.

“So what exactly did you think about?” Louis asked when Marcel didn’t respond.

“Um,” Marcel started unsure how to explain it without embarrassing himself even further. His hand that wasn’t currently holding his phone up to his ear was tangled in his sheets to prevent himself from touching his cock, he was literally _itching_ to touch. Now he knew that _thinking_ about Louis while he wanked wasn’t too much, but actually wanking with Louis on the phone probably was. “I just thought about you. Like, I imagined it was your hand instead of mine and you were whispering in my ear and stuff.”

“Yeah?” Louis groaned, like an actual sex groan, and he sounded distracted, almost like he was— 

Marcel gasped. “Lou, are you—?” God, he couldn’t even say it. He needed to get over this hurdle and be brave for fucking once and be able to talk around Louis without stumbling over every single word.

Before Marcel had the chance to finish his question, Louis answered it for him. “Yeah, baby,” Marcel’s stomach fluttered at the pet name. “I’m touching myself. Fuck, Marce, you turn me on so much.” How? Marcel wasn’t even doing anything, he was barely even talking. “You can touch yourself too if you want. We can do it together.”

That was all it took for Marcel to reach out and wrap a hand around himself. He’d been hard for _ages_ so finally getting some friction against his cock felt incredible. The moan was escaping his lips at the touch before he even had the chance to muffle it.

“That sounded pretty,” Louis murmured in his ear. Marcel preened at that and sped up the movement of his hand. Knowing that Louis liked the way he sounded and was okay with doing this made all of his inhibitions fall away.

He listened to the sounds Louis was making, the way his breathing quickened. He wasn’t holding anything back and Marcel could hear it all. If he listened close enough, he could hear the desperate jerk of Louis’ hand over his cock and it made his head spin. 

“Fuck,” Louis groaned, his voice ruined. “I’m getting close already.” Just the thought of Marcel getting Louis so worked up that he was already close to coming was so devastatingly hot, Marcel could hardly stand it. 

Marcel lifted his hips, fucking into the tight ring of his fist, his head tilting back against his pillows. “Me too,” he wheezed, which was kind of unbelievable because this would be the third time he’s come today, in only the span of a few hours. The lube was just as good as Louis said it would be and Marcel took full advantage of it. But this, wanking _with_ Louis, was a thousand times better.

He heard a high, keening whimper come from the other end of the phone, followed by a long drawn out-moan and Louis repeating Marcel’s name over and over. Marcel knew that was the sound of Louis’ orgasm and it was honestly the hotted thing he’d ever experienced. He gripped tightly to the base of his cock to hold off his own, he wanted to savour this for just a bit longer.

Silence followed then, only interrupted by their heavy breathing. Then, timidly, Marcel asked, “can I see?”

Louis didn’t say anything in response, but Marcel soon felt his phone vibrate against his ear. He held it up above his head and opened the picture that Louis had just sent him. It was of his chest, just the tip of his cock peeking in at the bottom of the screen, and there was come splattered almost all the way up to his collarbone. It was so hot that Marcel lost it.

It barely even took one more stroke and Marcel was coming, his vision whiting out. He whined into his pillow, his entire body trembling with the force of it. 

“You sound so pretty when you come,” he heard Louis say after he came down. “Wish I could have been there to see it.”

“Me too,” Marcel replied. 

He was suddenly feeling very brave and he snapped a picture of himself, similar to the one that Louis had just sent him. He made sure his cock wasn’t in the frame because he wasn’t quite confident enough for that and he sent it off without a word before he could change his mind.

Louis gasped and there were some muffled sounds before he was talking into the phone. “Marce, is that really you? You’ve never sent me anything of you before.”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Marcel said quietly. 

Louis was silent after that and Marcel started to squirm. Maybe he shouldn’t have sent it. He was instantly regretting it. “Sorry I don’t look good.”

“No, Marcel, _fuck_ ,” Louis breathed. “You’re so fit. Nice little body. Your nipples are so fucking rosy, I want to bite them.”

“Lou,” Marcel whined. “I’m gonna get hard again.”

“Sorry, baby,” Louis said, chuckling, and not sounding apologetic in the slightest. “I need a shower now.”

“Yeah, I do too,” Marcel agreed. He was already starting to feel sticky and uncomfortable.

“And we should probably call it a night, it’s getting late,” Louis said. “But this was fun, yeah? You enjoyed it?”

“I did.”

“Good. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then?”

Marcel hummed. “Yes please.”

— 

“I think we should meet.”

Marcel was walking from his home office to his kitchen to make himself a fresh cup of tea and he almost tripped over his feet at Louis’ words. He braced himself on the back on the sofa so he wouldn’t fall flat on his face. “What?”

“I think we should meet,” Louis echoed. “Like in person. I know you didn’t want to when I asked you out for my mate’s birthday, but I think it’s time. I want to take this further with you but it’s a little hard to do that when we just talk on the phone, you know?”

“I—” Marcel stopped. What was he supposed to say? Technically, they _have_ met, Louis just wasn’t aware of that, and it went horribly. If Louis found out that they had met, that Marcel lied straight to his face, he’d drop him without even looking back. It wasn’t that Marcel didn’t want to meet Louis _officially_ , he did, desperately, he was just conflicted.

“Look,” Louis continued after Marcel was quiet for too long. “I know it’s nerve-wracking, but it’s just us, it wouldn’t be any different than it is now except that we’d get to see each other. I really like you, Marce, and I want—” he paused, taking a deep breath. “—I want you to be my boyfriend, but I don’t feel right asking you if we haven't met yet.”

Marcel’s heart clenched. That was definitely one way to get his attention. “I..okay. Let’s do it.”

“Yeah?” Louis asked, voice alight with obvious excitement. “There’s a coffee shop near my office where we could meet. How about lunchtime tomorrow?”

Tomorrow. Shit, that was soon. That was _really_ soon. That left literally no time for Marcel to prepare. “Sounds good,” he croaked, his throat completely dry.

“Perfect! I’ll text you the address,” Louis said.

He had less than twenty-four hours. He could do this.

— 

Marcel couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned for hours until he fell into a fitful sleep and his alarm woke him up for work an hour and a half later. So, to say he was exhausted would be an understatement. He got dressed for work and made himself a to-go cup of coffee. These were the times he wished he had an actual coffee pot and not one of those stupid fancy things that just make one cup at a time. He’d take the entire pot with him today, he’d definitely need it. 

If things got desperate, Marcel guessed he could stop at the coffee shop in the library. It was overpriced and they didn’t offer a discount for library employees, so he didn’t visit very often. Plus, he was pretty sure one of the girls that worked there had a crush on him. He had nothing against her, she was actually quite pretty and very sweet, but he just wasn’t interested in women in general. He hadn’t been interested in _anyone_ since Louis came along. 

Just knowing that he was about to meet Louis for real in a few short hours was making Marcel a mess. He couldn’t focus on a single thing. The library had a new shipment of books arriving in a few days and Marcel was trying to sort through all the invoices, but he couldn’t keep any of the numbers straight. He was a nervous wreck. 

By the time his lunchtime rolled around, Marcel was stomach was _churning_ with nerves, his palms sweating. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this. Marcel glanced at the clock on his office wall. It was half-past twelve and he was supposed to be meeting Louis at one. He should probably get going, he wasn’t sure how long it would take him to walk to the coffee shop where they were meeting. 

His hands were shaking as he reached for the doorknob of his office door. After he closed it behind him, he stopped in the hallway and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He could do this. 

Marcel had never been to the coffee shop Louis had suggested, and he was interested to see what it was like. He tried to focus on that instead of his nerves as he walked. 

Before Marcel even rounded the corner to where the front door of the coffee shop was located, he saw Louis. He was sitting at a small table by the window, coffee cup cradled in between his palms. Marcel momentarily stopped breathing because he forgot just how much more strikingly beautiful Louis was in person, even through the streaky coffee shop window.

Each time the front door opened, Louis would glance up with a smile on his face and hope in his eyes at the person currently walking through the door, only to turn his attention back to his cup with a frown when that person didn’t approach his table. 

Marcel’s heart sank and the heavy ball sitting in the bottom of his stomach tightened even more. He felt like he was going to be sick. He knew if he walked inside, that smile on Louis’ face would fade once he saw Marcel. No one would be happy to see _him_ walking towards them, even someone as wonderful as Louis. He couldn't do that to him.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, the screen already opened to his text thread with Louis. He ignored the pang in his chest at their last text as he thumbed out a new one. 

_So sorry, Lou, but I got held up at work and I’m not going to be able to make it for coffee. Raincheck?_

He watched through the window as Louis picked up his phone from where it was sitting on the table in front of him, his shoulders slumping with disappointment as his eyes scanned the message. His thumbs moved across the screen and only seconds later Marcel felt his phone vibrate with the reply.

_That’s okay! I haven't even left the office yet so I’ll just grab some lunch with Niall or something. We can arrange to meet up again some other time._

Marcel frowned down at his phone. Why did Louis feel the need to lie to him? He looked back up to the coffee shop, but the table where Louis was sitting was now empty. He glanced around in panic, frantically searching for Louis until he found him dumping his coffee into the trash before pushing open the door to the coffee shop and walking out. Marcel watched as he crossed the street, his arms wrapped around himself against the cold, head tilted down at the ground. Marcel swallowed around the lump in his throat as he turned around to head back to work. He felt like the shittiest person in the world and he tried to pretend like his eyes weren't burning with unshed tears.

—

Understandably, Marcel didn’t hear from Louis the rest of the day. But he also didn’t hear from him the entire day after either. Louis had every right to be pissed at him, hate him even, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

It felt weird to pick up his phone and not see a text from Louis or to spend hours on a phone call with him. It felt _empty_ , like there was a big chunk of his life missing. And honestly, there was. Louis had very quickly become a big part of Marcel’s life, a very important part.

He knew it was his fault, that he brought this on himself. Louis was ignoring him and he deserved every bit of it, but it just fucking sucked. And Marcel was too much of a coward to pick up the phone and apologize. 

He knew this was going to happen, that Louis was too good to be true, too good for him. That he would ruin his chances to be with him before he even got to properly have it. Marcel just wished he wasn’t right. 

Now that it was two and a half days later and Marcel still hadn’t heard anything from Louis, he decided to bite the bullet and apologize. He couldn’t handle not knowing where they stood anymore, couldn’t handle not talking to Louis. If they weren’t going to be friends anymore, it would hurt and Marcel would hopefully move on eventually, but he wanted to end things on better terms than they were on now. 

So he typed and deleted and then typed and deleted again until he eventually settled on what he would send. It was long-winded and probably more than he needed to say but _needed_ Louis to know how sorry he was. He just hoped it came off as sincere through text. 

It was quite a few hours later that Marcel revived a response and he almost tripped over the corner of his rug in his haste to get to his phone when he heard it chime. 

_It’s okay. I know that you were nervous and I was too. I was just so excited to meet you more than anything. If you don’t want to meet me that’s fine. But I’d rather you just tell me instead of standing me up._

Well, that wasn’t exactly what Marcel was expecting, but it was better than Louis writing him off completely. 

_I’m so sorry. The last thing I wanted was to upset you. I didn't even take your feelings into account I only cared about myself._ Marcel stared at his phone for one, maybe two seconds, and then became too anxious to wait for a reply from Louis. _Can I call you?_

Instead of getting a text in response from Louis, Marcel’s phone started ringing. The selfie Louis sent him of himself and Clifford that Marcel had saved as his contact popped up on his phone. Marcel fumbled to swipe to accept the call, but he finally got the hang of it and brought his phone up to his ear. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Louis said.

“I’m sorry, Lou. I don't even know what to say to fully portray how sorry I am. I just wa—-

“Marce,” Louis interrupted. “Can we just move on from this please?”

“No,” Marcel said, shaking his head. “Can we try again? Can you give me another chance? Let’s meet again tomorrow and I _promise_ you that I'll be there. And if I’m not, I give you permission to track me down at the library and yell at me or punch me or whatever you want.”

Louis laughed and it felt wonderful to hear him laugh again. It had only been a little over two days since Marcel last heard Louis laughed, but god, did he miss it. “Okay, I'm gonna hold you to that.”

“Same time, same place?” Marcel asked, _pleaded_. He wanted to prove himself, wanted Louis to know how much he wanted this. He couldn't lose Louis for good.

“Yeah, sure,” Louis answered.

They continued to talk for the rest of the night. It wasn't like it normally was, Marcel could feel some tension that he wasn't used to. He could tell that Louis didn't fully trust him and he couldn't wait to prove him wrong tomorrow.

—

Again, Marcel saw Louis through the coffee shop window before he entered. He was sitting at the same table as he was last time, sans coffee cup, just his phone lying on the table in front of him.

Marcel took a deep breath as he pulled the door open, holding it open for a woman who was leaving and stepping inside. Now that he was here, he could feel the nerves settling in. Throughout the morning he was obviously nervous, but he had been so busy receiving and signing off on the new shipments that came in today that he was able to push it to the back of his mind and not dwell on it. But now, being a few feet from Louis, Marcel was starting to panic.

Louis hadn't noticed him, he wasn't looking up at everyone who entered like he did last time, probably because he was _expecting_ Marcel to stand him up again. Which was understandable, but it wasn't going to happen again. Marcel was here, he was going to sit down and have coffee with Louis, and it was going to be great. If only he could make himself walk to the table.

At least he wasn't standing in the doorway anymore, he had moved off to the side so he wasn't in the way of the people coming and going, but he just couldn't take any steps further into the coffee shop. He couldn't bail, he couldn't do that to Louis again, so he shook his head, took a few more deep breaths to calm his racing heart and headed in the direction of where Louis was sitting. 

He only made it halfway, stopping to stand at the end of the line behind the counter. Progress. Marcel was reading over the menu, trying to decide what he was going to order—he'd probably just go with his usual vanilla latte, you couldn't go wrong—when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Marcel?”

Marcel froze and his heart jumped into his throat. That was Louis’ voice, Marcel could recognize it anywhere by now, after having listened to it almost every single day for months. His voice sounded brighter, more airy, even on that one word, without the obstruction of the phone.

He turned around slowly, immediately being met with bright blue eyes blinking at him. “Hi,” Marcel said even though it came out as more of a whisper. Literally, everything about Louis was _breathtaking_ and it was hard to talk. It was hard to do anything but stare at him while you were in his presence. Marcel offered a sheepish smile and lifted his hand to wave, even though Louis was only standing about two feet away from him. God, he was so awkward.

“Oh my god,” Louis said, pulling Marcel into a hug. He instantly melted into his, relaxing against Louis’ body. He smelled spicy like cinnamon yet sweet all at once and Marcel buried his nose in Louis’ shoulder. “I can't believe it's really you.”

“It's me,” Marcel shrugged as they pulled away. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, they kept slipping down because of how sweaty he was. That was so embarrassing. He hoped Louis hadn't noticed.

Louis smiled and the breath was knocked out of Marcel yet again. Lous had a gorgeous smile. Of course, he shouldn't have been expecting anything less it _was_ Louis after all. He even had little wrinkles at the corner of each eye. How was he real?

“What do you want to drink?” Louis asked, moving to stand in front of Marcel in the line. “I’ll get you something.”

“Oh no, Louis I can pay—“

“No, please, let me. You go sit, I’ll join you in a minute.” Louis gestured toward the table where he was sitting earlier, which was somehow still empty. 

Marcel nodded and walked to the table. He sat down and drummed his fingers on the table while he waited. He watched the people walk by outside through the window, trying to ignore the entire flock of butterflies in his stomach. Surely, Louis recognized him from the pub, Marcel just really hoped he didn’t remember it. He’d already embarrassed himself enough in the span of about ten minutes, he didn’t want to add that on top of it. 

“Here you go,” Louis said, placing two cups on the table and sliding into the empty chair. 

Marcel said his thanks and took a sip of his drink. Vanilla latte. He didn’t even tell Louis his order. 

“So,” Louis said, breaking the awkward silence they fell into. “How are you?”

“I’m nervous,” Marcel answered truthfully. 

Louis laughed. “I can tell.”

“I’m sorry.” Marcel dropped his eyes to the table, squirming in his seat. 

“Hey,” Louis reached out across the table and placed his hand on top of Marcel’s. “Don’t be sorry, I’m just really glad you’re here.” Louis squeezed his hand before moving away. Marcel already missed his touch. 

After the first initial awkwardness broke, the conversation flowed easily. They talked as they normally would on the phone and it was so nice to be able to _see_ Louis laugh and to see the facial expression he made as he spoke. 

They spent their entire lunch hour at that table, coffee cups long gone empty and sat in the middle between them. They both lost track of time and were having to rush out in order to make it back to work. 

Once outside, Marcel turned to give Louis a hug goodbye, but before he could Louis was tugging him out of the middle of the sidewalk and against the wall of the coffee shop. 

“I want to see you again,” Louis admitted. “Is tonight too soon?”

“You do?” 

“Of course,” Louis nodded. “Finally meeting you hasn’t changed my feelings for you. Well, they have, but in a good way. Only intensified them.”

Marcel’s heart lurched in his chest, clenching like a fist. It felt good to hear that. “Oh, okay. Tonight works for me.”

“Want to come to my place?” Louis asked. “We could order takeout and just hang. I’m sure Cliff would love to meet you, he’s definitely heard me talk about you enough.”

“Okay,” Marcel smiled. “That sounds nice.”

“It’s a date,” Louis said causing Marcel’s stomach to swoop. “How about seven? I’ll text you my address.”

Finally, Marcel was able to pull Louis into a hug as they said their goodbyes and right before the fully broke apart, Louis placed a kiss on Marcel’s cheek and then dashed across the road, stopping to wave once he made it to the other side. Marcel couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he slowly brought his hand up to touch the spot where Louis’ lips just were.

—

By the time Marcel left work, he had just enough time to rush home, take a shower, change clothes, and walk to Louis’ flat by seven. He would have had plenty of time if he left work when he normally did, but there were even more shipments that came in, _hours_ later than they were scheduled too, and since he was the one that needed to sign off on them, he had to stay until they arrived. Normally, he would have been fine with that, but he actually had plans today. Plans with _Louis_ and he didn’t want to miss out on any of it. 

He shoved through the door of his flat, shedding his clothes and he moved his way through to his bathroom. He hopped in the shower before the water was warm, shivering under the cold stream as he washed his body until the water heated up. After his shower, Marcel pulled on a pair of jeans and one of his favourite printed shirts and practically ran out of his flat. 

Marcel expected Louis to greet him at the door when he finally arrived, and he did for a second, but then he got a giant mass of curly black fur knocking him to the ground. 

“Cliff, cut it out! Come on mate, you promised me you’d behave,” he vaguely heard Louis shout over the sound of panting in his ear. 

The weight on top of Marcel disappeared and he saw Louis pulling Clifford away from him by his collar while still frantically trying to lick at Marcel’s face. “Sorry, he’s a little _too_ friendly sometimes.”

“‘s okay, he’s very cute,” Marcel said, reaching out to scratch behind Clifford’s ear who immediately went lax in Louis’ hold. “Much bigger than he looks in photos.”

“Yeah, he’s a massive idiot.” Louis used his free hand to take Marcel’s and lift him to his feet. His heart swelled when Louis didn’t let go once he was standing, just intertwined their fingers. 

Louis let go of Clifford’s collar, who seemed to have gotten his excitement under control, and he trotted along happily behind them as Louis lead Marcel by the hand into his kitchen. 

“Hungry?” Louis asked and Marcel nodded. “What kind of takeout you in the mood for? Pizza? Indian? Thai? There’s a really good Mexican place just around the corner that will deliver if I tip them generously.”

“Pizza is good with me,” Marcel said. 

“Pizza it is then,” Louis picked his phone up from the counter to order and Marcel wandered into the living room. 

He sat down on the sofa, Clifford immediately jumping up with him and lying himself across his lap. Marcel raised his arm to accommodate him, once Clifford was settled, Marcel began to pet along his back. 

“Hey!” 

Marcel startled, afraid he’d done something wrong. Maybe Clifford wasn’t allowed on the furniture. He looked up at Louis and relaxed when he noticed his attention was on Clifford instead of him. 

“I’m the only one allowed to cuddle with Marcel right now, you need to move to the other end of the sofa,” Louis said sternly. 

Marcel bit his lip to hide his laughter as he watched Clifford lift his head and cock it to the side. Louis narrowed his eyes and Clifford whined, hoping off the sofa and walking to the other side, jumping up and curling into a ball. 

“That’s better,” Louis said, sitting himself in the spot that Clifford just vacated. “Pizza’s on the way. I got the tracker up on me phone,” he showed Marcel his phone where it said that their order was currently being made. “Wanna watch a film?”

“Sure,” Marcel nodded. It felt nice to be this close to Louis, to be pressed up against his side, but he couldn’t fully relax. He couldn’t get his mind to relax. 

“You okay? You seem tense,” Louis asked, while he scrolled through the romantic comedy section on Netflix. 

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Marcel said, trying to get his shoulders to stop hunching. 

“It’s not nothing if it’s upsetting you,” Louis placed the remote control on the coffee table, turning his full attention to Marcel. “You wanna talk about it.”

“I just—“ Marcel sighed. He didn’t know how to put his thoughts into words. Well, he didn’t know how to do it without sounding like an idiot. “It’s hard for me to believe that you’re interested in me. Like, it doesn’t feel real or something.”

“Marce,” Louis said. “How many times do I have to tell you until you believe me? I’m very interested in you.”

“Yeah but,” Marcel waved his hand in the air. “You’re _you_ and I’m _me_ and we just don’t really fit.”

“What does that—” Louis was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Hold that thought, we’re going to finish this conversation.”

Louis returned a minute later with two boxes in his hand. “Okay, what were you saying?”

“You’re gorgeous and perfect in every sense of the word and I’m just me, a nobody,” Marcel explained. 

Louis opened the boxes, one with pizza and the other with breadsticks. He took a slice out and handed it to Marcel, picking up another for himself. “You want to know what I thought when I first saw you? And I mean when I saw you in the pub when you told me your name was Harry.”

“Oh god,” Marcel groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “I was hoping you wouldn’t remember that.”

“Oh, I remember,” Louis chuckled. “I didn’t know it was really _you_ until I saw you in the coffee shop today. But when I saw you in the pub, the first thing I thought was how could I get you to go home with me.”

“What?” Marcel spluttered around the bite of pizza in his mouth. 

“Yeah, I thought you were well fit, I _do_ think that,” Louis corrected. “I was going to try and chat you up but you weren’t taking much and I just thought you were shy, but now I understand you did that so I wouldn’t recognize your voice because I definitely would have in an instant. But I didn’t do any of that because I thought, ‘no I’m talking to Marcel and I like Marcel and that would feel like cheating’. So basically, _you_ stopped me from taking you home with me that night.”

“Oh my god.” That was definitely hard to wrap his mind around. 

“So yeah,” Louis said, reaching for another slice. “You’re stunning and I’m definitely attracted to you physically, but even before I knew what you looked like I was still attracted to you.”

“You could have anyone you want though.” Marcel knew he was being stubborn and he was sure Louis was getting annoyed with him, but he just needed to be reassured. 

Louis sighed, rolling his eyes. “I hate that phrase. Why do people say that? Yeah, maybe I could have anyone I want, I don’t know. But the thing is, Marcel, I don’t just want anyone. I want _you_.”

Oh. Marcel’s heart fluttered. He kind of figured that was the direction this conversation was heading in, but it still felt really nice to hear that. “I want you too,” he whispered. 

“Good, I’m glad we cleared that up,” Louis smiled, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Can I kiss you now? I’ve been dying to since this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

Louis leaned forward and Marcel’s eyes almost started to cross as he watched Louis’ lips move closer and closer. Finally, he let them fall shut when he felt the puff of Louis’ breath against his upper lip. Then Louis’ lips pressed against his own and it sent a jolt of electricity across the surface of Marcel’s skin. It felt like magic, this connection between them, and he wondered if Louis could feel it too. 

It didn’t last long, which Marcel _didn’t_ pout about, but the smile Louis gave him afterwards was worth it. They picked a movie to watch, but it was pointless because not even halfway through, they started snogging on the couch, Marcal practically in Louis’ lap.

“Do you want to stay the night tonight?” Louis asked, lips ghosting over Marcel’s neck. Marcel went rigid in Louis’ hold and he must have taken that as a bad sign because he continued. “I don’t mean that to be presumptuous or anything, I just don’t really want you to leave yet.”

It was Friday night, Marcel had nowhere to be tomorrow, and he didn’t particularly want to leave yet either. Or ever really, but it was probably too soon for that. “I’d love to.”

They took a little snogging break after that for Louis to clean up their mess from the pizza. He gave the last breadstick to Clifford and put the few remaining slices of pizza in the kitchen for later. They turned off the television off because it wasn’t like either of them was watching it anyway.

Marcel had laid out on the sofa in Louis’ absence and when Louis walked back into the living room, he climbed on top of Marcel without preamble and sealed their lips together again. God, Marcel could get used to this.

“Wanna move this to the bedroom?” Louis asked. “We don’t have to do anything, we can literally just sleep, it’d just be more comfortable in there. We are cuddling though, there is no way you’re getting out of that.”

Marcel giggled as Louis pulled him to his feet, leading him back to his bedroom. “I like cuddling.” 

He awkwardly stood at the foot of the bed as Louis pulled back the sheets and fluffed up the pillows. “You want to borrow something to sleep in?”

Feeling bold all of a sudden, Marcel fiddled with the hem of his shirt before lifting it up over his head and tossing it off to the side somewhere. “I can just sleep in my undies if that’s okay with you. It’s what I usually do at home anyway.”

“Uh,” Louis stuttered, his eyes glued to Marcel’s chest. “Yeah, that’s—that’s fine.”

It was nice knowing that Louis found him attractive. He didn't’ think anyone had ever openly checked him out like Louis was right now as he stepped out of his jeans. It made warmth swirl in his belly.

It didn’t take long for the both of them to be down to their boxer briefs and under the sheets. Louis’ bed was so comfortable, like laying on a damn cloud, but Marcel couldn’t relax enough to sleep. Louis was _right there_ practically naked and Marcel’s entire body was vibrating with the need to touch. 

“Marce,” Louis whispered, reaching out to flick on the lamp on his nightstand. 

That was all it took and Marcel was rolling over, his front pressed against Louis’ side and he leaned down to kiss him. Louis was startled at first, but then he eagerly responded, wrapping an arm around Marcel’s back to pull him even closer.

The kiss became frantic and dirty in a matter of seconds, their tongues dancing together. Marcel’s brain was so cloudy with arousal he couldn’t think straight. He pressed his hips down into Louis’ searching for any kind of friction and he keened into Louis' mouth when he found it, rutting his hips even faster.

“Marcel, baby,” Louis said, breaking this kiss and using his hand to push against Marcel’s chest. “Wait a second.”

Instantly, the haze in his mind cleared and was replaced with shame. It washed through his whole body and he rolled away from Louis, trying to get as far away as possible. What the hell had gotten into him?

“Hey no, come back,” Louis reached out for him, his hand gripping onto to Marcel’s upper arm to pull him back. He went easily, he couldn’t deny Louis anything, but he couldn’t look at him, he was too embarrassed. “I just want to talk first, okay. Make sure you really want this.”

Marcel curled against Louis’ side, hiding his face in Louis’ neck. Louis rubbed his back and kissed his shoulder, helping soothe some of Marcel’s sudden anxiety. Eventually, Marcel pulled back and blinked up at him. “Hey,” Louis said, smiling. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Marcel nodded. “Just got a little carried away. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” Louis assured him, hand still rubbing his back. “Trust me, I felt it too, I just don’t want you to do anything you don’t want, don’t want you to feel pressured.”

Marcel shook his head, leaning back so he could look Louis in the eye. “I don’t feel pressured. You could never pressure me into anything. I want this.”

“You sure?” Louis asked.

“Yes,” Marcel said. “Now kiss me please.”

Louis laughed, rolling them over so he was laid out on top of Marcel. The kiss went on for quite a while, Marcel feeling more and more relaxed with each passing second. That was until Louis traced his fingertips over Marcel’s cock through the fabric of his underwear and he tensed.

Louis immediately pulled back. “What’s wrong?

“Nothing, nothing,” Marcel said, trying to pull Louis back in. “Just can’t believe this is happening.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just can’t believe you like me enough to want to do this.”

“Baby,” Louis cooed, leaning down to pepper kisses across Marcel’s neck. “I do like you, _so much_. I think I’m in love with you actually.

Marcel gasped, his heart flip-flopping in his chest. “You—you what?”

“I know we just met,” Louis explained. “Well, we’ve known each other for months now, but we only officially met in person today. So I know it might be moving kind of fast, but yeah, I love you.” 

“Lou, I—” Marcel started to say. This was a lot.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Louis said. “I just wanted you to know and I—” Marcel reached out and placed a finger over Louis’ lips, stopping him from speaking.

“I love you too,” he said, and it felt _incredible_ to say those words out loud. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest.

A smile spread across Louis’ face behind Marcel’s finger. “Yeah?” He kissed the tip of Marcel’s finger.

“Yeah,” Marcel nodded. “I’m pretty sure I have ever since you sent me that first selfie.”

“Oh,” Louis said, cocking a brow. “So you only love me for my looks?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Marcel rolled his eyes playfully. “I need something cute on my arm to show off.”

“Oi, I’m not your trophy wife,” Louis said, poking at the pudgy part of Marcel’s stomach that he always felt a little insecure about. But not now, not anymore, not that he now knew that Louis loved him. Every part of him felt beautiful.

Marcel giggled, shoving Louis’ hand away from where he was poking him. “Stop.”

“Hmm,” Louis hummed. “Would you rather me touch you somewhere else? Here maybe?” He hooked a finger into the waistband of Marcel’s boxer briefs, tugging them gently. Marcel nodded, answering Louis’ unasked question and lifted his hips so Louis could pull them off completely. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve done this,” Marcel said out of nowhere. It wasn’t necessarily important, but he needed Louis to know. “Like _years_.”

“That’s alright,” Louis said. “As long as you’re sure you want to continue.”

“I do.”

That was all Louis needed because he then wrapped his hand around Marcel’s cock and tugged. He came embarrassingly quickly, but it was definitely the best orgasm he’d ever had. He returned the favour, bringing Louis off with his hand. He was a little sloppy and uncoordinated, but Louis didn’t seem to mind. 

They showered off quickly, tumbling back into bed and under the sheets. Marcel insisted on being the little spoon and he slid his fingers in between Louis’ that was resting against his chest. He fell asleep within a matter of seconds. He didn’t think he’d ever been this happy in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [ireallysawanangel](http://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com) on tumblr, so come say hi!  
> [Here's](https://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com/post/186330583154) a tumblr post you can reblog if you'd like!


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